Throughout the calendar year of 2024, news about crimes committed in New York City frequently grasped significant media attention, with recurrent stories encompassing acts of violence such as shootings and stabbings, particularly in public spaces such as streets or subway systems. However, what truth do these reports hold up against the official crime records maintained by the New York Police Department (NYPD)? Was there an increase or decline in overall crime rates in the city during the past year? A careful examination of the NYPD reports reveals that there was in fact a decline in overall crime in New York City in 2024, with a decrease of approximately 3% compared to the crime data of 2023.
Notably, the murder rate in the city experienced a reduction as well. The recorded cases of homicide dropped by 3.8%, as there were 375 such incidents reported in 2024, compared to the 390 cases documented in the preceding year of 2023. Likewise, the incidents of robbery and burglary also saw a reduction, contributing to the overall downtrend in crime.
In fact, the major crimes classification—which includes horrifying acts such as shootings, murders, robberies and additional forms of violent conduct—disclosed thousands fewer victims in 2024 compared to the previous year. However, this does not imply that the city has fully achieved its safety objectives. On the contrary, there remains significant work to be performed to enhance the safety and wellbeing of New York City’s residents, aiming to both tangibly secure their environment and instill a pervasive sense of security.
But the span of 2024 wasn’t entirely marked with positive news. An unsettling increase was reported in certain categories of crime. The city underwent a significant increase of 18.7% in rape cases and a slight but notable increase of 4.9% in felony assault cases.
Considering the wider spectrum of public transportation systems, alarming results were also observed. The five-year span from 2019 to 2024 recorded a shocking 65% increase in felony assaults carried out within the subway and mass-transit network.
The severity of this change really hits home when examining the numbers: 374 felony assaults were reported within subway systems in 2019, yet this number had risen to a staggering 579 by 2024. On the other hand, NYPD reported a downward trend in overall index crimes committed within the city’s subway system for the second consecutive year, with a reduction of 5.4%.
In retrospect, we recall some of the pivotal crime headlines that marked the year 2024 in New York City. Among them was the shocking demise of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, whose life was brutally taken one early morning in December, just outside a hotel located in midtown Manhattan.
The police approached this murder as a bold and highly targeted attack. The individual accused of Thompson’s murder, Luigi Mangione, chose to plead not guilty last month against the charges of state murder and terrorism.
The month of December was further marred by another shocking crime. A woman was horrifyingly set ablaze, leading to her death on a subway car in Brooklyn. Ultimately, Sebastian Zapeta was charged with the murder of the victim, whom we came to know as Debrina Kawam.
A noteworthy incident that shook the city earlier in 2024 unfolded in March. A fatal encounter during a routine traffic stop in Queens led to the death of NYPD officer Jonathan Diller. The shooter in this case was later identified as a man named Guy Rivera.